A stone Twoleg-made structure towered over them.

Fiona's blue eyes were narrowed in concentration, her mind lost in her own whirl of thoughts. A silent question flared in the musty air above the trio. Is this the right place?

It was. Even now, the sharp smells of artificial substances and familiar stench of laboratory Twolegs penetrated the still evening. The unwelcoming scent was everywhere, clouding up Fianna's thoughts and nose alike. It was the brown warrior that finally broke the silence.

"Are you sure—" He had opened his mouth, only to be interrupted.

"Yes, this is the place. The rogue will probably be near here. It stinks though—no cat would be near here, especially since they saw us get taken. And that means no help." Fiona found herself speaking up, tail sagging further and further until it touched the ground.

A few moments later, she found herself following the lead of her sister, who insisted that surely at least one cat would be around. Pinebranch's tail softly rested on the green-eyed cat's shoulder for a fleeting moment, a simple gesture of encouragement. His determined gaze flitted over to Fiona, who nodded in response. They would find a cat, who would tell them exactly where Eclipse would be.

The putrid reek of a nearby monster was a strong reminder for Fianna to stay alert; this part of the twolegplace was still qualified as unfamiliar territory, after all. Swiftly looking around for signs of any feline friends, she rounded a corner, unconsciously unsheathed claws raking the hard stone beneath her paws.

Her sister caught up to her fast-paced walking, pelt pressed against hers for comfort. Fiona's cerulean eyes said it all: we can do this. Pinebranch trailed behind awkwardly, feeling as though he was intruding on some private moment.

"There!" he finally felt useful as he picked up a cat scent across the dark grey strip of bitter scent in front of them. Pinebranch was the slowest at running and weakest at fighting, but he'd always prided himself on smelling prey from fox-lengths and fox-lengths away.

Fiona pushed her sister back as she began bounding towards the Thunderpath. The grey tabby she-cat didn't need to see Fianna's face to know that the usual bubbly, unpredictable excitement was shining in her eyes. Excitement and eagerness that had gotten them into countless scandals. That would have most likely ended her life had Fiona not pulled her back, just as a bright red monster zipped past.

Fianna whispered a quick 'thanks' before proceeding to hurtle across the Thunderpath without being struck by an angry monster. Pinebranch and Fiona were right on her heels. A black-and-white she-cat with a very full chest greeted them with hostile eyes. A starling that she was stalking let out an alarm call and flew away, wings flapping noisily.

"We're not going to hurt you," Pinebranch mewed, slowly advancing forwards with his claws sheathed. The stranger's claws, however, did not stay sheathed.

"What do you cats want? You frightened my catch away!" she spat, eyes darting from one cat to the other. Fianna noted that she would probably have attacked if it wasn't for being outnumbered.

Who made dirt in her freshkill? Fianna thought before speaking up. "We're looking for Eclipse. My sister and I were captured by Twolegs in white pelts from that place over there—" she nodded towards the laboratory— "and they did something to us. Our bodies switched."

While the aggressive she-cat did not relax her rigid posture, she also didn't start attacking them or questioning their sanity.

"It's true." This time Pinebranch spoke. "They found our Clan and we took them in for a while. I'm helping them find the rogue now. He's their only hope of switching back."

"You're from the wild cats?" The she-cat only seemed interested now. "Very well. I'm not sure if I can force myself to believe your ridiculous story, but I can help. I'm Belladonna. I'm not familiar with this Eclipse cat, but I've heard his name before. Description?"

Fianna didn't miss a beat. "A black-furred tom with gray eyes. Lots of cats know him."

Belladonna nodded but didn't say any more. She motioned with a swift flick of her tail for the three cats to follow and began to pad in the direction of the setting sun. After a while of walking past Twoleg nests and across a few more Thunderpaths, a barn came into view.

The stench causing Fiona to wrinkle her nose for the umpteenth time that day, she watched as the Twolegplace cat paused. "He lived here a few moons ago, I'm pretty sure. Not sure if he's still here now."

"Okay. Thank you, Belladonna!" Pinebranch waved his tail at her as she disappeared over a fence and into a crowded garden.

Fiona felt her sister stiffen beside her, and was tempted to do the same. There was more than one cat's scent in the barn. More than enough to keep them busy for a while.

Written by Saph! 🍩✨